Flora Cruz-López1, Licet Villarreal-Treviño1, Rayo Morfin-Otero2, Adrián Martínez-Meléndez3, Adrián Camacho-Ortiz4, Eduardo Rodríguez-Noriega2, Elvira Garza-González5. 1. Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Departamento de Microbiología e Inmunología, Pedro de Alba S/N, Ciudad Universitaria, San Nicolás de los Garza, Nuevo León, Mexico. 2. Hospital Civil de Guadalajara 'Fray Antonio Alcalde', e Instituto de Patología Infecciosa y Experimental, Centro Universitario de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. 3. Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Pedro de Alba S/N, Ciudad Universitaria, San Nicolás de los Garza, Nuevo León, Mexico. 4. Hospital Universitario 'Dr. José Eleuterio González', Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. 5. Hospital Universitario 'Dr. José Eleuterio González', Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico.. Electronic address: elvira_garza_gzz@yahoo.com.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Patient colonization has been suggested as a risk factor in hospital-associated infections (HAI) development, which are of the most frequent complications in hospitals. OBJECTIVE: To examine the colonization process and possible transmission routes of HAI-causative agents in step-down care unit (SDCU) patients. METHODS: Patients admitted to SDCU within 48 hours of admission that had no evidence of infection present, nurse health care workers (HCWs), and relatives of infected patients were included. Participants were sampled and cultured at different times in different body surfaces. Environmental surfaces and medical devices were also sampled. Antimicrobial susceptibility and clonal relatedness were determined in selected HAI-causative agents, environmental, nurse HCWs, and patient isolates. RESULTS: A total of 2,735 isolates corresponding to 126 species were identified. Of the 11 patients included, 8 developed 1-3 HAIs (14 isolates recovered as HAI-causative agents). Acinetobacter baumannii (36% of infections) was distributed in clone A (n = 1), B (n = 3), and F (n = 1); Klebsiella pneumoniae (29%) in clones A (n = 2) and B (n = 1) and Enterobacter cloacae (7%) in one clone A. Causative agents were progressively recovered from environmental surfaces and medical devices before and after HAI onset. CONCLUSIONS: Highly related strains were recovered from environmental surfaces, patients, and nurse HCWs before and after HAI outcome. This is a first step to examine colonization process in SDCU settings and provides a base for further studies to understand colonization dynamics and the role of patients' relatives and nurse HCWs in organism transmission in the SDCU.
BACKGROUND:Patient colonization has been suggested as a risk factor in hospital-associated infections (HAI) development, which are of the most frequent complications in hospitals. OBJECTIVE: To examine the colonization process and possible transmission routes of HAI-causative agents in step-down care unit (SDCU) patients. METHODS:Patients admitted to SDCU within 48 hours of admission that had no evidence of infection present, nurse health care workers (HCWs), and relatives of infectedpatients were included. Participants were sampled and cultured at different times in different body surfaces. Environmental surfaces and medical devices were also sampled. Antimicrobial susceptibility and clonal relatedness were determined in selected HAI-causative agents, environmental, nurse HCWs, and patient isolates. RESULTS: A total of 2,735 isolates corresponding to 126 species were identified. Of the 11 patients included, 8 developed 1-3 HAIs (14 isolates recovered as HAI-causative agents). Acinetobacter baumannii (36% of infections) was distributed in clone A (n = 1), B (n = 3), and F (n = 1); Klebsiella pneumoniae (29%) in clones A (n = 2) and B (n = 1) and Enterobacter cloacae (7%) in one clone A. Causative agents were progressively recovered from environmental surfaces and medical devices before and after HAI onset. CONCLUSIONS: Highly related strains were recovered from environmental surfaces, patients, and nurse HCWs before and after HAI outcome. This is a first step to examine colonization process in SDCU settings and provides a base for further studies to understand colonization dynamics and the role of patients' relatives and nurse HCWs in organism transmission in the SDCU.